Culture

There’s a Little “Something” Wrong with DBSK’s New MV

DBSK’s newest MV for “Something” is a pretty glamorous video. Tuxes (or variations of such), gold rooms, jewelry, and oh, yes, and white women. Time after time, when a K-pop video really wants to show how well off their singers are, the inclusion of white women is almost the default. While many people see this as K-pop becoming more open minded and aware of it’s multicultural audience, it’s more problematic than anything.

First things first: including white people isn’t including the vast diversity in the K-pop audience. While artists have included other races, such as Ladies’ Code debut “Bad Girl” and Xia’s “Incredible,” the majority of artists tend to include only white people and, even then, only white women. When a video has a club or party like atmosphere, yeah, maybe they’ll throw in a few other races, but when they’re going strictly for a high class atmosphere, it’s usually white and Asian only. It’s creating a fetish like atmosphere instead of an inclusive one when it comes to race and K-pop. It has been written about before how K-pop seems to open its arms to it’s white fans, but turns it back to other races.

And this doesn’t mean that this is good for white women either.

The women in these videos usually do not act at all. While many others have the girl be part of the storyline, they are simply sitting or standing near the idols. Sometimes they may kiss the idol or smile, but they are largely reduced to status symbols. Just as there is this “idea” of what asian women are in the West, this kind of effect is being placed on white women by their roles in these videos. They’ve become almost synonymous with glamor, like a new watch, or a fancy car, but not rounded out as individuals. You’ve made it? Here are some white girls to toss into your video, you know, for that razzle-dazzle. Specifically to the DBSK video, it starts off with women literally being objects — pieces of art, which is incredibly problematic.

Whiteness is already idealized by a large majority of the world, but this video is literally portraying them as pieces of art to be admired. They’re adorning the walls of the hall like trophies, which puts a new twist on the term “trophy wife.” There are, at the very least, two main Asian women in the video. They seem to be the main female dancers, but when it comes to the shots of the boys sitting amongst their groupies, the Asian woman amongst the group is either off to the side, out of focus, or out of the shot entirely. So the Asian women can be there to entertain them, but they’re not amongst the women used to enhance the building, or the prestige of the two members.

The Hallyu Wave has brought a lot of good for the K-pop fandom, but it’s also highlighted some of the problems of glorifying whiteness that is all too common in most popular media. DBSK is not the only offender when it comes to this, but they are the most recent. This is not to say that women — white or otherwise — shouldn’t be included in music videos (though there is something to be said about women being used as a status symbol at all, but that’s a topic for another day). The problem is that K-pop is giving minorities the same treatment as many mainstream media outlets already are. They’ll rap, travel and sing in your country — heck, they’ll even sport a bindi, but all that does is reduce entire groups of people to a superficial fad. If K-pop really wants to appear more open, they can start by letting more people in.

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Yeah, the mv didn’t really sit well with me. The fact that the women are white aside…I just didn’t like how they were being represented as being so….pathetic; more like possessions than anything else. It didn’t make Changmin and Yunho look very good either tbh.

hapacalgirl

I am being completely serious when I say I was too distracted by the horrendously cheesy fake tatoos to really pay attention to most of the scenes. They were quite distracting.

maldita

Yeah, those tattoos offended me more than anything.

CBV

lol, i don’t even care if there are black, white, or japanese people in the mv, all i care if the song is catchy enough to play all day long. if you don’t like the white people in the mv, just don’t watch it. is kpop all about the mv and the concept now? it’s better if kpop is all about music…

Ma Lghi

but kpop isn’t all about music, kpop is all about idols, what they say, what they do, it’s much more about their lifes than their music. people are affected by what they say, people will follow the, will copy them, that’s why when a idol (or their MV) is sexist or racist IT IS A BIG DEAL, it’s not just a random person having prejudices, it’s a person that other are going to follow

Guest

you guys going to talk about rains “la song” mv? that one was both sexist and racist.

Gaya_SB

Is grass green? ;)

becca

tumblr user “black-in-asia” did a really good piece on that mv and why it is messed up.

SM must be obsessed with drawing tattoos. You see it on Henry, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon and now TVXQ. The video is very glamorous, with the high class lounge and the old antique cars, of course their costumes just look so fancy. I’ve always loved TVXQ’s dance choreography, this one is no different. Especially the cool dance sequence before the last chorus, and i love the effects too. The song is a huge change from “Catch Me” and “Humanoids” which is a good thing because we could use a change from them, since the group always goes for the heavy electric bombastic element. It’s about time the boys bring out their “bad” side, I know they got it in them, haha. There’s nothing wrong with having white women in the video, especially pretty ones, LOL. Nice job guys!

http://rose-kira-chan.deviantart.com/ Rosekirachan .

They’ve actually started to subtly draw tattoos on the necks of a few of the EXO members. On Baekhyun’s neck was a fancy B, below Kai’s neck spelt the words ‘love’ in cursive and there was another that was an assemblage of many alphabet letters in EXO’s specific font on a few of their necks. It does seem true that SM is obsessed with tattoos, why though? It’s a bit weird.

Tanya Joshi

In terms of the video as a whole, it honestly wasn’t that bad and was pretty snazzy and the dance was creative as well. (I’m just wondering if another review will be made where someone will once again find a way to talk about the “boxiness” of the video, as is usually always done with SM releases). Putting aside my thoughts on how people relentlessly criticize the box, though.

This was my first thought when a white-skinned woman appeared in the video, “*sigh* Not again…”
My main thing doesn’t have to do with the fact that there was a white woman, but the fact that they seem to only see white woman as the height of glamour, luxury or even as a visual representation of how well-off they are; and on top of that, like the article said, that they are trying to show “diversification” and “acceptance of other cultures” through these woman. I know that Korea lives in a mostly homogeneous society, but I think it’s time that, especially for hallyu stars, they start accepting other skin colours as well. If they want to look like they’re being inclusive for the sake of their fans, they need to realize that excluding other cultures that aren’t caucasian isn’t going to do it. If they’re going to include other skin colours, and I’m including white people as well, they need to stop using stereotypes. They need to not have South Asians acting all stupid, need to stop having black people to be the gangsters, stop having white people as the epitome of wealth, etc. Just show them as normal people, if you’re going to show them at all.
I’m also annoyed with it always being woman. We are not some object to be shown off for the sake of a man’s reputation. Why must they always portray it that way?

And I agree with the other comment on here as well: it doesn’t put Yunho and Changmin in a good light, even though you know that they’re just doing what they’re told with who they’re told to do it with.

PandaPanda

You have to remind yourself, though, that the management of these idol groups make the decisions of who’s going to be in the music video. I’m sure the Kpop idols would like to include other people in their music video, but management may not be so open to that, unfortunately. I was definitely thinking the same thing when the white girls were there. And did you notice that the Korean women were in the background? Especially when Changmin was sitting in the bench thing in the one room XD I’m sorry, but I found that hilarious.

Tanya Joshi

I never actually said the idols themselves were like, “No, we only want white women!”, I was just directing it at the sort of general opinion these companies have, and the image they’re helping perpetuate, to the public.
(Sorry, I probably sounded defensive; I don’t know how to make that sentence sound happier :D)
But yes, I found that weird, too. That the Korean women were in the background. But, then again, people would’ve probably still written this article if it was vice versa anyways. It just irks me when I see them only portraying certain skin colours in certain ways. That white means rich, and all that jazz. It’s like when you’re watching dramas and they always, without a doubt, mention some relative living or studying in America. There’s great universities in London, too, but they almost never mention even that. But that just might be my Canadian showing, haha.

Gaya_SB

lol sorry I just rememberered how all through the 90s people would ask where Australia was: “in the north (of India)?”

Tanya Joshi

ACTUALLY!? I knew this one dude who swore that India was next to England. I just gave him one those looks.
I also got asked by a dude whether I danced around fires with feathers in my head and I also gave him another one those looks.

Gaya_SB

omg wow

though tbh the people who thought about that about Australia were usually grandmas and great aunts who’d only see us whenever we went back to India on holidays lol they’d be like “whaaa?”

PandaPanda

That was what I said… I was saying that the company and the management has the final say in what the music video has. The idols don’t really get a say… And I do agree with you on the second part. Its as if the media is saying only good-looking people are white. Which is far from the truth.

Tanya Joshi

Ahh, sorry, must have interpreted it wrong!

Sanu A

bollywood also uses ‘white women’ like this…. Why anyone signs up for this s*** is still unknown to me.

Gaya_SB

they get paid an alright amount… and there’s actually this phenomenon of white british actresses/models going to India because it’s harder to get work in the UK

Guest

money. the white actresses/models probably need the money since they aren’t famous in their home countries so of course they’d be willing to take gigs in asia, even if the gig is as some sort of trophy girl.

Tanya Joshi

I knooow! During musical numbers, all of the sudden, within a span of 3 minutes, they are in 15 different countries at once, singing a song, with a huge amount of white people (mostly women) dressed in Indian clothes dancing together with them. It’s weird, but hey, if they need the job and that’s the only way, I guess they thought, “Might as well…”

Gayathri Venu

But is also terribly obvious that the western culture uses and represents Inida the wrong way, by just showing the bad parts and not the good. And it is also misrepresenting my Inidian and Bollywood culture, with the wrong use of the bindi, outfits, and traditions. So its not only Westerns who are showed the wrong way, but almost every culture is shown the wrong way by other cultures. Thats the way things are.

Jess

The tattoos looked really out of place. During Mirotic, yunho had a tattoo that was quite pretty on his neck, it was small & subtle. These are just a huge turn off & it doesn’t match the suits at all. I didn’t really like this song as much as their previous comebacks. Still would buy it though.

leesigh3

I don’t think this video is a problem. K-Pop is all about idealizing idols anyway. Do you think it’s problematic that TVXQ also appear in the painting along with the white women? What does it mean?!

Nyx

I think the video was a fun watch but a bit awkward because it would have been better multiracial given the genre and theme they chose. I just think the girls looked out of place but still a banging music video and song.

Guest

The video was meh, the song was okay, but the group is just boring. This is why SM just uses them as a touring cash cow. All they do is tour all over Japan, milking older fans with the same set list. Their fans will shield them no matter what, cause they are just so perfect, and any critic is considered hating.

valkrie

I’m pretty sure you just described every fan group of every idol group/celebrity ever.

and why do you think groups tour in the first place? to earn $$… and since they’re still extremely popular in Japan, I think them touring all over Japan is a great idea…

marjén

The demand for them is high, that’s why they have mega tours.Do you even know how kpop works? Suju and snsd do the same.Also big bang who are on tours for more than 2 years.I’m a big bang, snsd and a tvxq fan by the way.

TVXQ is boring.?lmao.Maybe your taste is so mainstream

WKW

i can appreciate and agree with the first half of your statement. But implying tvxq (or any kpop act for that matter) is anything other than mainstream is simply not true.

kelliusmaximus

lol why do you think they sold a million concert tickets last year? because they’re boring? or maybe it’s because they are really talented and likeable and absolutely slay live

Chela Masen

Thanks for the article. I think you raise some of the major concerns that many viewers had. It’s too bad because I thought other aspects of the MV were strong (i liked them playing with the strings in the choreo, I liked the live band, speakeasy feel).

Elias Junior

Sorry, but this amazing video and song can’t be reduced to this. As a DBSK fan who waited long time for it in a such a special moment I felt embarassed and disappointed reading everything that was said; actually I didnt even notice the girls being portraited by the way you did. Now that you said that, I think it is healthy to bring up the discussion, but blaming the group is not fair once their company was the responsible for the choice.

Ma Lghi

oh please, I’m tired of the “the one to blame isn’t the group but the company” talk, the group IS the company, if this article praised their video for the amazing choreography or the beautiful lyrics you would be like “DBSK is amazing” and “I’m so proud” but when they screw it up it suddenly is the company’s fault. I get you are a fan, just accept that your idols are not perfect and that all they do is thanks to the company, so if you are not going to praise the company when something good happens, don’t go hating on it when things aren’t going so well

Elias Junior

I praise them for their voices, style and talent. One of the reasons why the video is so beautiful is because both of them are part of it. We know how K-Pop industry works and I see no problem on blaming their company for what is being considered here as a bad choice.

scuttlepants

But Yunho’s pretty senior in management…

marjén

Yes hes is and he did a great job .I don’t see anything BIG wrong xd

scuttlepants

Well, you don’t but other people obviously do. I think it’s fairly undeniable that the women are just there to look sexy (and in the case of the white women, be white). It disappoints me a little to see this from them.

I’d rather TVXQ be regarded for their musical talent and tasteful choices, rather than controversies like this, and honestly? I just don’t buy the fake “chemistry” between them.

marjén

What’s the problkem exactly? i don’t even care, my white friends don’t care about using white girls in korean videos.

Ma Lghi

are you being sarcastic?

Guest

DBSK has been a group for 10 years. I think the time of blaming SM for everything problematic they do it past right? Pretty sure they have enough power to say “no” to something if they think it’s bad.

maldita

The thing is, they don’t know that this kind of stuff is problematic. So obviously they won’t say no to it. And that’s the problem.

marjén

I don’t even see any problem lol and i’m a white girl

scuttlepants

I get the feeling that you don’t see problems with a lot of the things that other people see problems with.

PandaPanda

Did you even read the article?

kelliusmaximus

wtf, how could they say no? how could they turn up to a mv set, see a bunch of white models that had already been casted by the company, and tell them to go away? do you want them to demand that the pd hire other races on the day? and why would they want to? yes, it’s problematic, but this isn’t entry level social justice knowledge. this is something only people who are quite educated on the subject would understand. it’s ridiculous to expect yunho and changmin to have enough of a problem with such subtle racism that they’d kick up a fuss about it.

Nikki

I don’t think they knew about it on the day of. Regardless of whichever artist or music industry, it’s common practice – and sense – for artists and their management to have multiple meetings discussing stuff like the actual music video aside from whatever concept and music they’d bring out next. Stuff as major as a music video are usually pre-meditated, with the involvement of the artists in the creative process as well. Plus it’s their 10th anniversary! I don’t think SM would have refused having them as creatively involved as any other staff/producer.

NoctLightCloud

“subtle racism” —> I don’t even see this as racism. I think it all depends on how someone’s been raised.

scuttlepants

Yunho is in senior management at SM. So he does have a fair bit of clout, and they would have been made aware. They may not have final say, but I think Yunho’s like, 4th down in terms of seniority? They’re not newbies without power.

majidfx

i’m really glad seoulbeats did a article addressing this. i thought i was the only one annoyed by how the top tier, usually male groups seem to practically fetishize and reduce white women to glamorous, mysterious sex objects in their videos (offending male groups being big bang and dbsk, among others). god, just typing that was weird as hell to me, especially when in the west we have the other side of the coin: reducing women of COLOR to mere sex objects and even props, especially in mainstream pop music like Miley Cyrus’ music videos and Lily Allen.

bottom line? women are not to be draped on your arm prettily to signify how successful you are and cement your alpha male dominance or whatever the hell you’re trying to prove. make music good enough where you could film the music in an abandoned garage or something and still dominate the charts, instead of fueling wrong perceptions of different ethnicities and cultures.

J2201987

All women here in the west are reduced to sex objects, not just black/latina/non-white women.

And one must ask themselves: If this is such a problem (and it is, I agree), why are these WOMEN auditioning to be ass-shaking modelsvideo “vixens” knowing they have to be scantily clad and “spreading eagle” throughout most of these (rap) music videos? I’m pretty sure if the aspiring “models” rejected the treatment/storyline/layout of these videos and demanded themselves better representation directors and producers would change their tune with the quickness.

Miley VirusCyrus is going through a “black” phase: exploiting and appropriating the savagery and coonery that is the so-called black experience. Lily Allen is mah girl, and although I don’t know what she was thinking with her video, is no worse than what I could see in a Lil Wayne/Rick Ross/Jim Jones video.

All in all, Kpop producers and writers are taking what they see from mainstream pop culture in the States, Europe and Japan, and appropriating what they know would make money. While I do give major side-eyes to most of these pop-tarts in Korea regarding their faux knowledge on race-relations I know they are only going by what they see and hear from mainstream America. So we, as Americans need to check what kind of image we want to send out to the world, because “the world” have been watching us since WWII.

shannie4888

I was also distracted by the random white women in the mv, but I’m so tired of this in Kpop. Why even use them at all? So they can show that they can get int’l women? To make them look like players? This is seriously offensive. On top of that, Yunho and Changmin just sit there and stare. The women are like a harem. So many WTFs going through my mind.

Don’t even get me started on the lack of diversity because that’s going to take all night.

All I want to know is: who came up with this shit anyway? SM is the largest company in Kpop, but they need better people because it isn’t a good look.

marjén

yawn.I don’t even care if they use white women or not and i’m a white girl

shannie4888

That’s to be expected.

b55555b

not a fan of the white girls.. or the tattoos.. or changmin’s hair, but i like this song. the medley that came out a few days ago sounds really good.. and it’s always a bonus watching yunho dance. on the other hand, if it’s all rainbows and unicorns with rain’s la song mv, then we’ll know there’s a little “something” wrong with seoulbeats and the readers. just saying. reposting article that becca put up: http://black-in-asia.com/post/71955341407/rains-la-song-and-the-debasement-and

jaefuma

The LA post is coming.

http://rose-kira-chan.deviantart.com/ Rosekirachan .

I read most of the comments below this article and I must admit the song is catchy, but the content of the video (harem around Changmin and Yunho) is a bit misleading.

I dislike how they made women the ‘art pieces’ and as objects they look at, admire and barely interact with. They should’ve been more diverse and invited women of other cultures to be in the mv. Then, I think international viewers would be a little more comfortable watching the video.

The ‘Something’ MV makes Yunho and Changmin look like wealthy womanizers who also like to sing and dance. I have nothing against the pair DBSK, but former member Junsu released a song titled ‘Chocolate Girl’ in his ‘Incredible’ album and I felt like that was a really sweet song describing women of culture other than Caucasian (and of their own race).

maldita

Well, the song’s basic gist is that Yunho and Changmin are so hot and they have everything, and only the girl was has the extra “something” is worthy of their attention. So yeah, the video’s pretty spot on if going by the song’s meaning.

Guest

I”m a white girl and i saw many worse things in kpop MVs so this one of TVXQ didn’t offend me at all.There is one MV of junsu when he had black and
white women and it was a mess.

valkrie

The video to me is just another example of Korea’s ideals… If you couldn’t tell by all the whitening additives in their makeup products and high school girls getting double eyelid surgery (seriously, my co-worker gifted her daughter with the surgery as a graduation present) to have bigger eyes Korea still uses white women as the ideal look.. pale skin, big eyes, etc. Even with their own idols such as Hyori, Exo’s Kai or Sistar’s Hyorin, who have darker skin, that while they are handsome or beautiful they would be even more attractive with lighter skin. -.-

While there definitely could have been a better story line for this song, (walk and sit with women, then go home and get turned into art? come on) I think having all the white women with them is their version of showing beautiful women. I mean, the song is about them being popular with women but they want the one with the “special something”

It doesn’t make it right, but first convince all of Korea that they are all beautiful and handsome without having to get double eyelid surgery or trying to make their faces whiter and to stop stereotyping all ethnicities and then we might see more acceptable multicultural MVs. if the Hallyu wave lasts long enough.

J2201987

I knew I would love this song the minute I saw the preview. Personally I’m happy the swing/jazz/big band sound is cycling its way back into mainstream pop (Bruno Mars, Janelle Monae, Miguel Omarion/Beyonce/Christina Aguilera circa 2006, etc.)

Even though I didn’t get into DBSK’s music as much, I love their (pre-2011) singles, and I’m really digging this track.

As far as their white-washed video goes, I’m not expecting much from the Kpop industry. It’s not like the industry has top-notch investigators looking into culture appropriation, it’s (dis)advantages, and what would be crossing the proverbial line to being insensitive. They are just following what they see in mainstream (Euro/Ameri/Jap) popular culture that’s making money. And I doubt these guys (like most entertainers) care about being culturally seasoned and sensitive…especially if it doesn’t benefit them in any way.

This is no different here in Black America, where when you make it out of the ‘hood and into a higher tax bracket you find yourself a white girl to show that you’ve “arrived”. Many ethic men who are average joes STILL think this way. Why would Kpop (or any other non Euro/American entertainment industry) think otherwise? After all, isn’t art supposed to be a reflection of life? Not saying any of it is right. What I’m saying is that the change needs to start the person in the mirror and the people in their environment (and have open/honest dialogue like this) to change this asinine thinking before you can even consider putting an end to it in mainstream pop music/visuals.

IMO if anything Korea needs to work on is accepting and embracing darker-skinned or biracial Koreans living on that peninsula, and work their way up to stop color-shaming famous people like Hyori Lee and Hyolyn.

marjén

I regret reading this article .Boring.

almost_asian

Just think about SMTOWN’s gayo daejun performances though. Crazy In Love (Emeli Sande’s Great Gatsby cover of Beyonce’s original), Bang Bang… SMTOWN 2014’s sound = The Great Gatsby OST 2013. Just to make it clear, I’m not saying they’re plagiarizing but one of the main reasons I’ve always liked SMTOWN is because they really take korean music’s roots, mash it with good old electronica and pop and make it their own sound. Something sounds so mediocre compared to what they usually go for. Quite a failure for a 10th anniversary album, especially after the amazing Catch Me performances. SMTOWN needs to realize that just because Growl’s acoustic hip hop sound worked doesn’t mean it’s going to work for the rest of their groups. Unfortunately I can see foresee this trend being overused this year. Fasten your seatbelts everyone, we’re going back to the Bridal Mask/Basketball age this year and its going to be anything but original.

Guest

those are sailor jerry-inspired tattoos.

Steph

First of all… TVXQ are not the producers of their promotional videos… those are directors and so on.
And, I think it is clearly to see that the music video of “Something” portrays the style of the 1920’s, such as the Golden 20’s. And wasn’t it the US that lived it to its contents? With exact these ladies who were very glamorous and rich. So, if you focus on the subject of the pv and the style, I don’t get the problem ^^”
I’m White too, and I don’t see any problem in the K-Pop industry with races… I mean even Junsu included a song in his “INCREDIBLE” album about a black woman. So what’s the matter? I think this article has been created by a hater of them and I think this may be rather unprofessional…

PandaPanda

Err… Junsu doesn’t perform his songs live, so his songs won’t be as known to the general public like TVXQ.

NiKi

too much to read but I’m sure it’s bs
no one cares

kelliusmaximus

seoulbeats, so biased against tvxq that when faced with an awesome song and mv that they’d struggle to criticize, they decide to write an article about racism instead of actually reviewing it

i’m not saying the article is wrong, but if you’re going to post something like this at least do a review at the same time

anonymous

Agree! This article is a waste of time. Pointless arguments. What, you’re doing a feminist review of a music video? Please. Do your bashing somewhere else.

Welps

The prominent use of white women just saddens me after thinking about how SOME people use plastic surgery to achieve the same double eyelids and tall nose bridges as those women. Common easily achievable items include skin whiteners in lotions and those plastic tools such as face rollers.http://netizenbuzz.blogspot.ca/2013/08/self-plastic-surgery-trend.html
Note I said some and this is certainly not TVXQ’s fault nor SM entertainment. This is just a prevalent problem of society when the idea of beauty has become homologous and just subtly in media due to what society wants to see.http://youtu.be/0wWKjxxM6q8?t=26m25s
Different is beautiful and perhaps in later years they can become more multicultural and understanding. I guess it’s hard for me to be in anybody’s shoes but I came from a Canadian high school with 20+ country representatives when we have our own cultural food day and our city celebrates heritage day with 50+ countries celebrating their food and performances. Diversity is beautiful.

In all others aside, I loved the retro sound and feel of the song!

Judith

Totally agree, decent song and great set, good dancers, but completely offensive in the use (that’s exactly the right word) of women. I dropped TVXQ at the split because these two guys had always been my least favorites, and this certainly isn’t going to bring me back. This article is a good analysis, thanks.

Sheila Flowers

I’m not a fan of TVXQ or most K-pop girl bands. I read this article out of curiosity. And again I come to the same conclusion. The writers sure do like to harp on K-Pop artists using whites or blacks in their videos and how it is almost always “problematic”. While there are some good articles to read, the complaining is just ridiculous. Seoul Beats comes across to me as the k-pop site that spews out the bad publicity articles, and comes across as being negative, or perhaps it is just some of the writers who are being overly critical. But hey that is just me and my opinion. However, I have learned in the last few days that this site is definitely not my cup of tea…

illerz

I love how you have to emphasize what a fan you aren’t and how your mighty curiosity brought you here. And not the love a fangirl a fannin’. ARASEO ;)

Sheila Flowers

Um yah.. I’m a fangirl but not for TVXQ or Girl Groups. Of course that isn’t the point.. Read on my dear read on…

illerz

Well I like TVXQ men and I think it’s totally amazing, that people seem to think stuffing someone into a box of predisposed ideas is always the right thing to do. I don’t blame the guys. I think most koreas don’t know better because korean media doesn’t try to change that. They don’t really care. Diversity isn’t really a korea thing. It’s new to them so I’m willing to give them time to adjust to the rest of the world they are reaching out to.
I am just not jumping on the band wagon of:
Well other countries are insensitive toooooooooooo. We shouldn’t tell them not to discriminate against others. That’s wrong tooooooooooo.

For obvious reasons I abstain.

Again, I like em and fighting :D

NoctLightCloud

I totally agree with “why does never occur to any of these companies that black women can be beautiful or indian women, latina women and others…”!! I don’t want to sound “racist” or anything, but I know many(!!) women who are more beautiful than these white girls in the MV. (maybe I Sound super-ficial, but in MVs, everybody wants to see nice & good-looking people.) I somehow had the feeling that they just selected these girls because, well, they were thin (important in Korea) and white (even more important in Korea). I personally find Latinas attractive (most Latinas are not too thin, and super-beautiful imo). I’d one fine day love to see their temperaments combined with SM-coreographies. I think that’d look fabulous and really be that “something”!*___*
These girls reminded me of my fav BB-song “Bad Boy”, with pretty much random girls included. I hope no one gets me wrong, but: It’s show-business after all! A hard business. And if big, well-known groups such as TVXQ and BigBang don’t get their statists/actresses selected in a more carefull way, it just takes out the whole effort of trying to seem “more international” (whatever this may mean). Plus it lowers the level of professionalism.

As a white girl myself, I found the girls to be out of place and really unsuitable for a music video or the show-business itself. I didn’t want to judge as I don’t know any of them well enough; maybe it was just the MV-director who ordered them to just awkwardly stand around – but they look really nervous and clueless – especially when Yunho is around (maybe he outshines them presence-wise? Again, idk how talented these girls really are off stage).
As a comparison: I loved the back-ground dancers, they were professional, entertaining and a REAL diversity (not race-wise, but character-wise). At least they did a great job.
The girls are the only thing I can complain about in this MV, the rest is flawless (as usual).

Bri

Just saying, watching only for Changmin and Yunho; I could care less about the overused white women. Wanna talk about branching out? Include MORE ethnicities rather than resorting to JUST white women. -.-

Astraica

Excuse me, but you’re missing a HUGE point here. Their theme. This is based on Western 1920’s SHOW style with a Korean twist to the style. You cannot tell me you’ve never watched those videos. And you forget that this IS how women are portrayed in most music videos. I praise these bands from Korea and Japan for their style in NOT showing women simply twerking on the dance floor like 99% of US!!!!! Videos ~_~ I’m Canadian, so yah, I speak on that behalf. I can’t stand most music videos period because of that. So instead of going for the “oh, this is unjust to woman! AHHHH!” LOOK at the details and reasoning behind an ARTFORM first. Point: I AM a woman who’s all for women’s rights, so you can’t tell me this is written in any other light.